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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26181514">Let's play pretend</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/aishiterumo/pseuds/aishiterumo'>aishiterumo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Acting, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Bang Chan gets angry, Blood, Gen, Hospitals, I don't know how to tag this, Light Angst, Major Character Injury, Near Death, Violence, fake fight, fake fight turning into real fight, mostly chan centric, not that explicit, vendetta kinda fight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:54:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,618</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26181514</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/aishiterumo/pseuds/aishiterumo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Stray Kids are preparing for their comeback, they finally got the script for their title track's music video and there's one scene not like the others... It worries them just by reading the script. They need to film a fighting scene.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Let's play pretend</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello!<br/>This isn't what I usually write, well I think so, but I still hope it's good enough for you. The idea somehow stuck all day long and I couldn't not write it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They were all sitting across the table, staring at the piece of paper in front of them. “<em>What do you mean we have to fight each other?</em>” Chan was the first one to voice out what every single one of them was thinking. They all looked up from the script to stare at their manager, who was near the door, a script in his hands too. “<em>Pretend. Pretend to fight. It’s for the music video, guys.</em>” They turned their head to face each other, looking back at the script where the sentence was written: ‘<strong><em>Hyunjin and Jisung starts to punch each other, both of their team joining them. The two teams fight each other until Felix falls on the floor.</em></strong>’ A shiver ran down eight spines at once, making them shiver in unison. “<em>We can’t do that, hyung!</em>” it was an undecipherable plea coming from all of them. “<em>Of course, you can. Hyunjin, Jeongin, you two had cameos in a few webdramas. You all act in your music videos all the time. Remember with On Track? It’s the same! Acting</em>,” even their manager sounded doubtful of their ability to act a scene like that. “<em>We never acted…for that. It was never that!</em>” They suddenly all regretted making songs with <em>that</em> theme. Choosing this path for their storyline. Why, why on earth would they went all the way to dividing their group into two rival teams? It was inevitable to have them fight. It was…predictable. So, there they were, staring at a script making them fight… pretend to fight.</p><p> </p><p>As soon as they got to their dorm, they subconsciously went to the living-room. Some of them were sitting on the couch, the others on the floor. Chan was standing, in front of the TV, staring at them. He was the leader. He was the one who needed to take a decision.</p><p>“<em>We don’t have a choice in here, so… Let’s just practice. Let’s play pretend. Ok?</em>” He was looking at each one of their facial expression. It went from fear to confusion to disinterest. “<em>Anyone want to object to that?</em>” Silence. “<em>Ok, then. Let’s divide into the two teams and let’s practice.</em>” The seven other boys then eyed each other, gulping in one loud noise.</p><p>“<em>You meant—You meant right now?</em>” Felix was standing up, moving towards Chan. The leader nodded. “<em>But, Chris, it’s 9PM. The neighbours are gonna fill a noise complaint. We’re already so close to have one because of</em>,” he let his voice trail, his eyes stopping on Jisung who already knew he was talking about him, his left hand slowly raising in apology.</p><p>“<em>Let’s keep it quiet. But we really need to practice, guys. Let’s go</em>,” he put an apologetic hand on Felix’s shoulder before going to one side of the living-room—the one close to the kitchen. Soon, he found Hyunjin, Seungmin and Jeongin on his side. In front of them were the four others; Jisung, Minho, Felix and Changbin. The two teams were set up. Chan took the script out of his pocket, sighing loudly. “<em>So, Hyunjin and Jisung, you two should come up front and fake punch each other. Then we’ll just join. Felix, whenever you want, just fall on the floor. It’ll make the scene stop. Everyone got it?</em>” A loud <em>yes</em> echoed through the living-room as everyone spoke at the same time, until a soft <em>wait</em> got loud enough. Seungmin ran up front, pushing the couch to the wall, doing the same with the TV. He then went back to Chan’s side; “<em>Now, we can go</em>.”</p><p>The two former enemies were standing in the middle of the living-room, both of their <em>team</em> standing behind them, waiting for their cue to enter the fight. Hyunjin eyed the leader, biting onto his bottom lip before lifting his arm and throwing a punch, his fist coming slowly at at least twenty centimetres in front of Jisung’s face. Chan’s voice loudly echoed through the room; “<em>CUT! Hyunjin, you should hit closer than that. And faster</em>,” he looked painfully serious about this. The two boys nodded, a soft hum dying in their throat. They went at it again. More seriously. With more power.</p><p>Hyunjin threw a punch, air crashing onto Jisung’s face as he dodged it even if it wasn’t supposed to touch him. He then did the same, aiming at the taller boy’s stomach. They fake-grunted at each punch they threw, pushing each other with no force but still enough to make them move a few steps. Then, the six others came around them, pushing and punching each other without touching anyone. It went on, and on. They were all yelling and grunting, loud breathing noises coming from their noses as dodging fake punches and throwing fake ones were more tiring than they thought. Suddenly, Felix dramatically dropped on the floor, an arm over his forehead. They all stopped, looking at him. They laughed.</p><p>“<em>Ok, that was great guys</em>,” Chan spoke once again. “<em>Let’s drink some water and practice again. It still lacks authenticity. And most of all, Felix… It’s not drama class</em>,” The boy got up from the floor as some others were chuckling at the remark. “<em>Does anyone have any idea on how to make it more realistic?</em>”</p><p>They looked around the room, eyeing each other. They all had glasses of water; some were empty, other were full. They shrugged until one of them spoke up. It was Changbin. “<em>What if we use weapons?</em>”</p><p>“<em>What do you mean weapons?</em>” Chan turned his entire body towards him, ready to listen for more explanation.</p><p>“<em>Well, even in the music video, we can fight with weapons we found on the floor. It’ll be more realistic of a fight. No one ever goes a hundred per cent bare hands into a fight, you know.</em>” He seemed to know a bit too much to some people’s eyes, no one said anything, though. “<em>We can just take some harmless things for now and talk about it with the director and the managers?</em>” Changbin got up from his seat, walking all the way to the kitchen and came back with a spoon. “<em>Is it harmless enough for you?</em>” He poked the spoon onto his neck a few times, demonstrating how harmless it was even if everyone knew a spoon <em>was</em> harmless.</p><p>“<em>Ok, I guess. It won’t kill anyone to try, anyway</em>.” Chan smiled fondly at the seven boys spread in the room in front of him. He had so much fondness for them, it was undeniable. They all looked at him with the same expression, smiling faces and sparkling eyes.</p><p> </p><p>They were back to each side of the living-room, objects displayed on the floor, a bit everywhere to be honest. There were a bunch of objects, going from fake swords to metal spoons and TV remotes. Hyunjin and Jisung were fist fighting in the middle, loud noises coming out of their mouths. If they didn’t know better, they could easily mistake those noises for a real fight. And maybe their neighbours did, as they loudly banged on the wall, begging for calm. They ignored it, or didn’t hear it, as the rest of them took the object the nearest to them and went in the middle, fighting whoever was in the opposing team.</p><p>Screams, yells of terror, exhausted breaths, it was a loud mess. A few grunts were real, as a punch got misplaces once or twice, hitting a stomach or an arm for real. The neighbours got fed up. They called the cops. They filed a complaint. And soon enough they heard banging on their door. Actually, they didn’t hear it. They didn’t hear anything until the door opened in a loud thud. Just at the same time as Felix decided to drop on the floor to stop the practice round. They all turned in one move towards the door, cops standing in their hallway.</p><p>“<em>What is happening here?</em>” One of the cops asked, taking a step into the living-room. It was indeed easy to mistake the scene. Seven boys in an almost perfect circle, holding random objects, sometimes with their arm in the air, ready to punch someone. And one boy. One boy on the floor. Blood around his face. “<em>I said, what is happening here!</em>” He raised his voice, enough to make Hyunjin flinched onto Minho’s side.</p><p>“<em>We can explain!</em>” Chan took a step towards the cops, all of them yelling at him <em>not to move</em>. So, he did not. He stopped moving, one step away from the seven other boys. “<em>It’s all pretended! We were practicing a scene!</em>” He dropped the TV remote he had in hands, both opened wide and raised in front of his chest. “<em>It’s all a misunderstanding, officer!</em>”</p><p>“<em>Then why is this boy dead!</em>” Another cops’ voice got heard from behind. His finger was pointing towards Felix. They all knew he was pointing at Felix who was, strangely, still lying on the floor pretending to be unconscious, like the script said.</p><p>“<em>It’s an act! I swear, I swear, officer, it’s an act! I can show you the script! I can—</em>” Chan was moving his right hand to the script on his back pocket, when he suddenly stopped moving.</p><p>“<em>Hyung… Hyung there’s blood</em>.” Jeongin’s voice was shaking, small, barely above a whisper yet loud enough to give Chan a headache.</p><p>“<em>What do you mean blood? Jeongin, what do you mean there’s blood!</em>” He gave up on the script, he gave up on the cops. The only thing that mattered now, was Felix lying on the floor and the so-called blood Jeongin was talking about. In one move, his back was facing the cops and his full attention was on his groupmates. In one other move, he was kneeling next to Felix, blood spilling from his neck. “<em>Felix! Felix open your eyes!</em>” His ears started to ring, tears spilling from his eyes as he put a hand beneath Felix’s head, lifting him slightly. His other hand was on the unconscious boy’s chest, caressing it soothingly. “<em>Hey, Felix. Lix, please. Please answer me. You can stop the prank now, ok Lix? It’s not funny anymore, Lix.</em>”</p><p>Noises got cancelled. His ears were ringing too much for him to register any other noise than his own breathing. Faintly, he could hear the cops calling for the medics. He could hear his teammates sobbing. He could hear everything, actually. But the only thing he wanted to hear, he couldn’t. He couldn’t hear Felix breathing! So, he decided to listen to nothing. Only his sobs. Felix wasn’t breathing.</p><p>There was a deep cut on his throat, blood spilling from there. As soon as he registered the cut, and the situation, he looked up. At every member standing around him, around <em>them</em>. They all had stainless harmless objects. All of them. No one had a blood-stained object.</p><p>“<em>Who,</em>” his voice got stuck in his throat. “<em>Who the fuck did this!</em>” He yelled. Chan never yelled. He never found the need to yell at his teammate. Yet, there he was. Kneeling next to Felix’s lifeless body, yelling at the six other boys for an explanation. They were all as clueless as him. All of them, except one. But who?</p><p>Chan felt a hand on his shoulder, tugging him backwards softly. Yet not softly enough to be one of his teammates. He looked back, staring at the cop, “<em>Leave me!</em>” The man in front of him didn’t flinch, didn’t move either, “<em>Mister, we need to examinate the boy. Maybe we can still save him</em>.” It was three words enough to make Chan move, yet not far from Felix. Closer to his head, fingers caressing his hair softly. “<em>I’m here, Lix. I’m not leaving you</em>.”</p><p>The medics arrived soon after, stopping the bleeding coming from Felix’s throat. Chan looked away as soon as they started to perform CPR, somehow his stomach being able to endure that much blood but not a cardiac massage. He then took this opportunity to look at his teammate more closely.</p><p>Jeongin was crying, shaking heavily and face hidden against Seungmin’s chest. The latter was looking directly at Chan, bottom lip stuck between his front teeth, no tears in his eyes but enough worry to show his emotions. Hyunjin was also hiding his face, against Minho’s neck, who was looking at the blood on the floor, hugging the boy in his arms tightly. Next to them was Jisung. He looked deep in thoughts, eyes wide opened as tears were filling them, threatening to roll down his cheeks at any moment. And then, at the far back, was Changbin. He was looking at Felix, or maybe at the cop helping the medics. Or maybe at Chan. No one was really sure. He looked deep in thoughts, bottom lip quivering. And then Chan looked at his hands. He saw blood on his fingertips. He saw blood staining his jeans pocket. He saw blood. His eyes then went to the other boys, checking their hands, their pockets. Seungmin also had blood on his hands. Chan’s head started to spin. “<em>Who the fuck did this to him!</em>” He screamed. He cried. He wanted to punch the floor. Everyone stopped moving, even the medics, even the cops, even the neighbours who were trying to sneak a glance from the front door. The world stopped, except for Chan who get up from the floor, taking both Seungmin from his collar and Changbin from his arm, pushing them in the kitchen and closing the door in one move, one loud thud that echoed in the entire dorm.</p><p>“<em>What’s this!</em>” It wasn’t really a question, as he pointed at the blood on their hands, on Changbin’s pocket. “<em>I said, what is this! Answer me, for god’s sake!</em>” He pushed them, one hand on either of their shoulders. Seungmin started to sob. “<em>Why would you do this! Why! Just! Just why!</em>” Chan wasn’t even sure if he wanted to cry or to scream, so he did both.</p><p>“<em>I—I didn’t do anything, hyung! Hyung, believe me! I didn’t!</em>” Seungmin lifted his hands in the air, tears spilling from his eyes but never as much as Chan.</p><p>“<em>Just go! Just fucking go!</em>” He pushed him out of his view, now only Changbin staying in front of him. He wasn’t moving, wasn’t shaking, wasn’t crying. Chan heard the door opening and then closing, faint noises coming from the living-room. “<em>What did you do, Changbin. What did you do?</em>” He was dangerously close.</p><p>“<em>It’s what he deserved. He asked for it</em>,” Changbin spat, hands digging in his jeans’ pocket to retrieve a small knife, covered in blood, throwing it on the floor. It rang through Chan’s ears.</p><p> </p><p>The rest happened so fast. Chan threw a punch in Changbin’s nose. The cops separated them. Felix got taken to the hospital as they managed to get a pulse. Changbin got taken to the police station. Chan was in the ambulance with Felix, the five others were still at the dorm, waiting.</p><p>Felix woke up after two hours, lying down on a hospital bed, Chan’s head resting against his arm, his bed a bit wet from all of his crying. He couldn’t talk. His throat was hurting as if it was on fire.</p><p>Changbin was still at the police station, getting interrogated as to understand what had happened. No one knew what he meant by ‘<em>he deserved it’</em>. No one knew but himself, except maybe Felix, but the boy was in no shape to talk for a few days.</p><p> </p><p>They knew it was a bad idea, to play pretend. They knew the script was a bad idea as soon as they saw it. They knew, they shouldn’t have play pretend.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>find more work on my <a href="https://twitter.com/softflowermin">twitter</a> :]<br/>you can also ask question related to my works on my <a href="https://curiouscat.qa/softflowermin">curiouscat</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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